Greeks improve their standing in the Euroleague

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos are gradually improving their position on the Euroleague table, thanks also to their wins at the start of another double week.

The Greens edged out visiting Zalgiris Kaunas in Athens with a 73-71 score in a very tight game that the Lithuanians very nearly snatched away from their hosts.

There was little separating the two teams throughout the match at the Olympic Sports Hall, but in the end Panathinaikos found the way to keep the upper hand and secure victory for a 4-4 record to date.

This time it was the Greek players of Panathinaikos that made the difference, with Dinos Mitoglou scoring 19 and Kostas Sloukas making 16.

Olympiakos defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv that was on paper the host of the game played in Belgrade. The Reds recorded a 79-74 win which was their fourth in eight matches.

The Reds dominated the first half leading 51-36 at half-time, but felt some pressure toward the end as the Israeli team grew more comfortable with the court in Serbia and cut the distance to two (74-72), only for the Greek champion to hold on and win in the end.

Thomas Walkup and Alec Peters scored 13 points each for Olympiakos on the night.